


second star to the right

by sam_kom_trashkru



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Boarding School, Alternate Universe - No Powers, F/F, Stargazing, it's really gay ngl, kara the pining gay puppy
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-11-26
Updated: 2017-05-10
Packaged: 2018-09-02 10:49:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 18,854
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8664742
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sam_kom_trashkru/pseuds/sam_kom_trashkru
Summary: She wasn't aware of its presence until it was too late. It started small, a creeping sensation crawling down her spine, a tingling in the back of her neck that had nothing to do with the frigid fall air, the stuttering of her heartbeat at random intervals. orKara somehow gets roped into stargazing with her not-so-secret-giant-gay-crush.





	1. in which kara is helplessly gay

**Author's Note:**

> This is not my swamp, I don't go here, but they're so cute.

She isn't aware of its presence until it was too late.

It starts small, a creeping sensation crawling down her spine, a tingling in the back of her neck that had nothing to do with the frigid fall air, the stuttering of her heartbeat at random intervals.

And it only strengthens from there.

Dreams just out of her reach leaving her breathless and panting in her bed, eyes wide and caught off-guard. Traitorous feet catching on thin air whenever her eyes drifted, a tongue that twists when she needs it most.

“Oh come _on_.” She sinks further into her chair at the library, trying to remain hidden, when her sister groans in annoyance. “Why are they here?”

“I mean, the library _is_ a common area,” Kara reasons, hiding behind her astronomy textbook, “it isn't as though we can just tell them to _leave_.”

“I’d like too, though,” Alex huffs, though her anger is placated when Kara deftly passes her a cookie, hidden expertly from the keen eyes of the librarian, Astra.

Across from them, in all their ethereal, stuck-up glory, were the so-called _elites_ of National City Academy. Maxwell Lord, tie slightly askew in a way Kara knows he thinks is casually disheveled, was poised against one of the fireplaces, leafing through a book, permanently bored expression fixed on his face. Next to him, Cat Grant appeared to be attempting to melt his face off just through her glare—Kara admits privately that if Cat Grant glared at _her_ like that she'd be inclined to flee the country—though the younger boy is as unfazed as ever.

The other two, however, are the ones who had Kara the most on edge.

The Luthor twins.

They aren't  _actually_ twins, but Lex was liable to get kids expelled if they even _insinuate_ that Lena isn't his real sister. For all his shortcomings, he is a loving brother, Kara would give him that.

Of course, as Lena was adopted, they don't look much alike. Lex has ringlets of curly blonde hair that frame his pale face, complimenting blue-grey eyes. Where his hair was light, Lena’s was darker than ebony, where his lips are pale, Lena’s are vibrant and full of color. While they share the same milky complexion, the female Luthor radiates warmth while her brother emits cold.

No one can deny that Lena didn't have the trademark Luthor aura of authority, though. Few dare cross her, and those who did never left unharmed.

It's oddly attractive, in a way.

“Kara.” Alex’s gentle voice grabs her attention, and she pushes the frame of her glasses further up her nose before turning to look innocently at her sister.

“What?”

“You were staring again.” A smirk plays on the ends of Alex’s lips, and Kara fights desperately against the blush rapidly rising on her neck to her cheeks.

“Was not,” she whispers back vehemently, concealing her face behind her astronomy book once more.

“Yea you were,” Alex scoffs, before her eyes widen, “oh no, she's looking.”

“What?” Kara yelps, eyes darting back to the group of teenagers, and scowling when she realizes her sister had been teasing. “You're horrible, Alex, reall—oh _Rao._ ” In a cruel play of fate, Lena Luthor had chosen that exact moment to look in Kara’s direction, frosty blue eyes meeting sapphire.

They could've been staring at each other for hours before Kara realizes the severity of the situation and snapps her astrology book back up. She can  _feel_ the heat of her full-face blush, and Alex doesn't even bother to hide her laughter.

“Worst sister _ever_ ,” she grinds out, the attention of the rest of Lena’s group sufficiently captured by Alex’s rather loud exclamation of humor.

Thankfully, Astra saves her from any more mortification by shooing the sisters out of the library, though Kara can't shake the feeling that an intense pair of eyes was fixed on her back as she left.

Winn is the one to call her out on it.

Sure, Alex knew, but Alex was her sister. Alex knew _everything_.

Winn was her dorky, computer-inclined best friend with wide smiles whenever Kara walked into the room and a big heart fit to burst. So when he comes to her, eyes slightly downcast, for a confrontation of sorts, Kara immediately knows what it's going to be about.

“A Luthor? Really?”

She ignores the underlying venom in his usually sweet voice, though it makes her feel horrible every time she hears it. Winn is a great friend, her _best_ friend, and if she could make herself feel anything other than _friendship_ for him she would, in the blink of an eye, but the world never let things happen as easily as that.

“It’s nothing,” she brushes off, trying to be nonchalant even though she can practically _feel_ her lungs constrict in the uncomfortable way they always do when the Luthor twins are brought up―specifically _one_ of the Luthor twins―and Winn is unconvinced.

“Does Clark know?”

At the mention of her cousin she stills, because she honestly hadn’t thought of the potential repercussions of Clark knowing.

“Doesn’t he always know?” It isn’t an answer to his question and Kara knows this, but her lack of directness seems to be answer enough as Winn runs his hand through his hair in an almost exasperated manner.

“You know he won’t like it,” Winn warns, because no matter what, he’s always looking out for Kara’s best interests, and she knows instinctively that if Clark finds out, Winn won’t be the one to tell him. He’s dependable like that.

“I know,” Kara says, placing her head in her hands, and Winn tentatively reaches out and places a hand on the small of Kara’s back as she slumps over.

“You know why they fell out, Kara,” he continues, all malice gone from his voice, replaced by the gentleness that she’s come to associate with her friend.

“I _know_ ,” she repeats, and though her words come out as a whisper they feel more like a sob and Winn rubs her back comfortingly, “I _know_.” Because Clark Kent and Lex Luthor had been friends, once.

Best friends, in fact.

Kara could easily remember the countless phonecalls she’d shared with her cousin prior to her own acceptance to NCA, in which the older boy babbled on excitedly about the new friend he’d made. She had witnessed firsthand the rise and fall of the Kent-Luthor friendship, had seen the devastation in Clark’s face when he came to her, tear tracks already stained on his pale cheeks, crying because this boy he’d come to love so much had _rejected_ him.

All because he was different.

“Be careful,” Winn pleads, and Kara doesn’t know at this point whether or not he means with the Luthors or with _him_ at this point, because his words are often laced with double meanings, but she knows that, whatever the purpose of his plea, she’d be stupid to not heed it.

“I will,” she tells him, and it sounds like she’s trying to convince herself as much as she’s trying to convince him, “I will.”

Because Kara Danvers is never one to do things in halves.

If she were to fall, then damn if she wasn’t going to throw her entire body into it.

* * *

 

The universe must hate her.

It’s the only plausible response.

She was sitting in her usual nook of the library, tucked into herself in a plush chair whose cushions you just seemed to sink into, again enthralled in an astronomy textbook, because nothing had ever quite captured her attention as much as the cosmos did. The pure expanse of them, the endlessness, the unpredictability, the unknown, she was drawn to it. The hour was late, and Alex was off with her _‘study group’_ ―heavy quotations added in Kara’s mind because she _knew_ that Alex was really just sneaking around with a girl she’d met in her forensics class, Margaret or Maeve or Maggie or something―and Winn was out with Clark and James for what they’d deemed ‘boys night’―videogames and filched beers from town that were too bitter for Kara’s tastes―so she was blissfully alone.

Until she wasn’t.

She could hear more than see someone occupy the seat adjacent to her, too caught up in her reading to particularly care, and there was silence for a few more moments before the person next to her ever-so-delicately clears their throat.

And Kara freezes.

Slowly, she pushes her glasses further up the bridge of her nose and lowers her book, steeling herself for whatever horrible interaction was sure to unfold.

The first thing Kara notes, stupidly, is that Lena Luthor is somehow prettier up close.

They’d met once before, at one of Clark’s parties that she’d accidentally walked into the middle of―parties weren’t really her speed―but she didn’t think Lena would remember. The other girl had been too far gone at that point already to notice the way Kara tripped over air when she smiled in her direction, before focusing her attention back on grinding on whoever was closest to her.  

Two sets of blue eyes stare at each other for a long moment before Kara calmly lowers hers back to her book. It has to be some sort of twisted dream. There's no way, no way at all, that Lena Luthor is sitting next to _her_ , looking at _her_ expectantly. Not a chance.

Lena clears her throat again, pointedly this time, and Kara is starting to realize that this is not, in fact, a dream.

“I’m sorry,” she says sweetly, though she knows it’s strained, “can I help you?”

“Oh good,” she tries desperately to ignore how the other girl’s voice comes out as an almost purr, deeper than Kara’s own voice and smooth and silky and utterly _tantalizing_ , “I was beginning to think you were mute.” A small frown tugs its way onto her perfect dark lips and Kara is embarrassed at how much she wants to make it go away. “Come to think of it, I don’t think I’ve ever heard you speak until just now.”

Kara shrugs awkwardly, again pushing her glasses up the bridge of her nose on instinct.

“I’m easy to miss,” she mumbles, fighting against the blush she can already anticipate, “I’m sure you’ve just had better things to worry about.” For a moment, it looks as though Lena wants to argue, though Kara has no idea _why_ , before she schools her expression into one of neutrality that Kara had come to associate with Lex. Cool, collected, unbothered, much like Maxwell, except with a sharper, keener edge.

“You’re going to help me,” Lena says, unprompted, and when Kara’s brows furrow she falters and stumbles on her own words, “I mean, I hope you will… may you please help me?” Kara was almost inclined to laugh, but she was too busy being nervous to find the humor of the situation.

“Not used to asking for things, are you?” The quip surprises her even more than it seems to surprise Lena, though the other girl’s eyes sparkle at the playful tone of Kara’s voice.

“No, I suppose not.” She shouldn’t be so formal, Kara decides, so serious for their young age. It’s a sin.

“So how may I assist the great _Lena Luthor_?” there’s an edge to the way Kara says her name, drawn out across her tongue experimentally, and she swears she sees Lena’s eyes darken, if just for a second, before her expression reverts back to its usual state of neutrality.

“I’m not doing particularly well in astronomy,” Lena admits after a moment, as though it physically pains her to acknowledge her own self-proclaimed mediocrity, “I confess I took the class thinking it would be an easy elective and haven’t been paying as much attention as I need to and now I’m just…” she paused, searching for a word.

“Lost?” Kara supplied, and she nods her agreement.

“Yes, I’m… _lost_ .” The word sounds foreign on her tongue and Kara fights the urge to smile, because of _course_ she’s accustomed to perfection. She’s a _Luthor_ , for the love of Rao. Perfection is her birthright.

“So will you do it?”

Her question snaps Kara out of her litany of what Alex calls _inner gay screaming_ , and as she makes eye contact with Lena _again_ she quickly runs through a list of all the reasons why this wasn’t a good idea.

  1. Clark was sure to find out, he always did, and she wasn’t sure she wanted to deal with his inevitable scolding.
  2. Her coursework was already putting a strain on Kara as it was, so she really shouldn’t take on the extra responsibility.
  3. She was working with a _Luthor_. That was a reason in of itself.
  4. There had to be some ulterior motive _somewhere..._



But there was one thought that was sticking out in her mind.

  1. Lena had _asked_ her to.



She smiles tentatively and nods, and the bright, radiating grin she receives in return is enough to justify the headache that would ensue at a later date.

“Great!” Lena responds quickly, pulling out―was that a _business card?―_ a piece of paper and pressing it in Kara’s hands. “That’s my number, you can text me when you’re available to… _tutor_ me.” From her tone of voice, Kara didn’t think that Lena had ever had to be tutored in anything _ever_ and nods mutely, a small smile on her own face.

What Kara had conveniently forgotten when she agreed to tutor Lena was that to study _astronomy_ , which focused on the _constellations_ , she and Lena would have to meet after-hours to go up to the observatory to study.

Stargazing with her crush.

 _Fantastic_.

When Alex walks into their shared dorm to see her sister banging her head morosely against the wall, she doesn’t seem too surprised about it.

“Potstickers?” the question is soft and Kara nods wordlessly, and as Alex gently leads her away from the wall and to the sofa they’d managed to sweet-talk Headmaster J’onzz into letting them have she calls the chinese take-out place in town that the school has okayed for delivery onto the grounds.

These moments with Alex are the ones that Kara treasures the most, just the two of them, sitting with their legs tangled on the couch and stuffing food in their faces while they binged trashy shows on Alex’s netflix account.

When she explains the extent of the situation she’s gotten herself into Alex sighs and pulls Kara in for a hug, rubbing comforting circles on her younger sister’s back as her other hand gently massages Kara’s scalp in the way she knows she loves.

“You can always cancel,” Alex suggests, but both she and Kara know that cancelling isn’t an option. Kara has always prided herself on following through with her promises, and she wasn’t about to back out of one just because her heart seemed fit to burst whenever she caught a glance of the girl she was meant to be helping.

“I can get through this,” Kara said, and she didn’t think she was convincing either of them if she was being honest, “she’s just a Luthor. I’ve got this.” Alex nodded wordlessly to show her support, and the two of them turned their attention back to the show on-screen, Kara nestling further into the comforting embrace of her older sister.

* * *

 

Looking that pretty in the moonlight should be a crime.

She looks like Yuda herself, ebony hair reflecting under the pale glow of the moon, lips still discernibly deep red even in the cloak of night, eyes sparkling like the constellations above them.

Kara was truly and utterly _fucked_.

“Danvers.” Her greeting was formal, but somehow managed an undertone of warmth that makes Kara blush, and she's suddenly much more grateful for the fact that they had to work at night. Lena constantly seeing the dark flush on her cheeks wouldn’t leave the best impression, after all.

“It’s just Kara, please.” She grimaces at the awkwardness of her own words but they only proves to amuse Lena further.

“Then you can call me Lena,” she acquiesces, and Kara thinks she’s going to die up here.

The late November air is frigid and Kara’s bundled up under several layers, and Lena’s only wearing a light jacket so Kara thinks she’s going to freeze, but doesn’t say anything. She doesn’t trust herself to talk about anything other than astronomy at that moment.

Stars are a safe topic of conversation.

And why they’re up there in the first place.

“Have you started on your star chart?” Kara asks her as a conversation starter, and when Lena shakes her head _no_ she fights the urge to sigh. Of course she hadn’t. “Right, well here’s what you need to do.”

It’s a lot more difficult than she thought it would be.

Of course, the teaching itself isn’t difficult. Kara knows the stars like the back of her hand, and picking them out amongst the billions of others scattered across the inky canvas of the night sky is second nature to her. However, she also has to guide Lena’s hands as she adjusts the telescopes, twist her body slightly to lead her in the right direction because honestly Lena has _no clue_ whatsoever what she’s doing―neither does Kara when it comes to her, but that’s besides the point―and the close contact is _maddening_.

They’re so close together that when Lena shivers Kara can feel the vibrations in her own skin, and she bites back a quip about not suitably preparing for the cold weather.

“Here,” she offers instead, shucking off her outermost layer―a slightly weathered but still amazingly warm blue hoodie with the crest of her birth-family stitched on it lovingly from her adoptive mother―and pressing it towards the other girl.

“But then you’ll be cold,” Lena argued weakly, though as she spoke she pulled the hoodie over her own head.

“Nah, I’ll be good,” Kara assured her, “don’t worry.”

The sight of Lena Luthor wearing _her_ hoodie is enough to give Kara a heart attack.

The brief brush of Lena’s lips against her cheek as she whispers a _thank you_ almost does.


	2. in which lena is acting suspiciously not straight

Kara didn’t get her hoodie back. 

She wasn’t sure she entirely minded, either. Eliza had made her plenty, knowing full well how much her adoptive daughter loved them. And whenever Lena showed up to their nightly tutoring sessions with the hoodie innocently wrapped around her chest, slightly too long for her arms, Kara could never bring herself to ask for its safe return. 

And maybe,  _ maybe  _ she felt a weird sense of pride whenever she saw Lena wearing  _ her  _ hoodie. 

Not that Lena was  _ hers,  _ or anything, it was just… nice.

“So.” Lena grinned as she plopped down next to Kara in the library, once again catching the other girl off-guard. “Tell me a little bit about yourself, Kara.”

“What do you mean?” Kara asked after taking a moment to inwardly compose herself. 

“Well,” Lena continued, “I figured, since you and I are spending so much time together in an academic setting, that we might as well spend some time together out of it.”

Kara blinked owlishly at her a few times, still not fully comprehending what was happening, and Lena smiled softly and shook her head. 

“I want us to be friends, Kara.”

“Ohh.” The realization hits her harder than a sack of bricks. “ _ Oh _ .”

“Unless you don’t want to be friends,” Lena backtracks with a small frown, “I know how to keep things strictly professional―” and then the rambling starts full-force. 

“What? Oh―oh  _ no  _ that’s not what I―I’d  _ love  _ to be your friend it’s just that since you’re so popular and stuff I didn’t think you’d even  _ want  _ to be friends with me, because I’m just, I’m just Kara and you’re―” Lena pressed a pale finger―which Kara tried and failed not to notice how long it was, and how neatly trimmed her fingernails were because  _ dammit  _ Lena Luthor was  _ straight― _ to her lips to halt her talking and Kara was pretty sure she’d died and gone to heaven.

“...highly endeared by your rambling,” Lena smirked, “it’s…  _ cute _ .” The intonation on the word cute sent shivers down Kara’s spine and she straightens reflexively, sending a small, almost shy smile in Lena’s direction.

“So know that we’ve cleared up that I want to be your friend,” Lena continued, “tell me about yourself, Kara.” She shrugged again, looking sheepish. 

“There really isn’t much to tell,” Kara admits, “I’m an open book, really, and my life is nowhere near as interesting as I’m sure yours is. Um, I was adopted when I was eleven, my favorite food is potstickers, and I really  _ really  _ like space.”

Lena smiles at her again, something in her eyes that Kara can’t quite discern, but she brushes all thought aside as Lena places a hand on her knee, and then all she can focus on is the soft pressure of Lena’s skin on her school skirt. 

“A fellow adoptee? Small world.” Her eyes are sparkling and Kara can’t help but notice just how beautiful they are.

Kara nods but doesn’t elaborate, and Lena doesn’t ask her to. They’re just barely friends, not nearly close enough to divulge their life stories, though Kara already knows much more about Lena than Lena knows about her. She definitely  _ hadn’t  _ looked up Lena’s wikipedia page―because she and Lex had  _ Wikipedia pages _ , at age  _ eighteen _ ―back in the early days of her crush. Definitely not. 

“So, you’re a chinese takeout sort of gal? I prefer vietnamese myself…”

And thus began the Danvers-Luthor friendship for the ages. 

Which only served to further Kara’s already monumental crush on the other girl.

“Alex!” Kara bursts into their shared dorm, in a mode of what she had colloquially dubbed ‘Lena-Induced-Gay-Panic’, and frowns when Alex and Maggie―who had been sitting together on the couch―spring apart at her entrance. 

“Of course you were making out on our couch,” she mutters to herself, and shoots a reprimanding glare at her sister, “no sex on that couch. I sit there.” Alex flushes bright red and Maggie coughs but Kara sighs and slumps onto the couch regardless.

“I’m hopeless,” she tells Alex seriously, “I feel like I’m dying, Alex.” Maggie shoots her girlfriend―girlfriend! her sister has gotten a girlfriend before her!―a confused look and Alex elaborates. 

“Lena Luthor.”

“Ah,” Maggie nods as though everything suddenly makes sense, and it does, because who  _ wouldn’t  _ turn into a pile of goo at the sight of Lena Luthor.   

“Aw, Kara.” Alex uses the voice that Kara has come to associate with pity and she makes her most valiant attempt to drown herself in sofa cushion while her sister just pats her back, likely exchanging a look with her  _ girlfriend _ ―why couldn’t she, Kara Danvers, have a girlfriend? why hadn’t Rao taken pity on her yet?―as she came up with something sisterly to say.   

“She can’t be real,” Kara mumbles into the cushion, still refusing to surface, “she has to be an alien or something. Because  _ nobody  _ should be that pretty and nice and funny and smart and―and,  _ argh!” _ She raises her head for just a moment before slamming it back down and Alex has to gently coax her up with promises of potstickers to prevent her from suffocating.

“Is this because you agreed to the friend thing?” Alex asks, and Kara nods helplessly. She’d only been Lena’s  _ friend _ ―and the word still excites her even though she wishes there was a prefix attached to it―for three weeks and already she’s in such a tizzy. 

“She’s just so  _ perfect!” _ Kara moans. “And so  _ straight _ !”

Maggie makes a disbelieving sort of noise and Kara looks at her hopelessly and the older girl shrugs, an easy movement that Kara sees Alex observe keenly. 

“You don’t think she is?” Kara asks, daring to get her hopes up for a fleeting moment, and Maggie, again, shrugs. Kara’s beginning to believe that shrugging is the only thing Maggie can do and absently wonders why it is her sister is so attracted to the other girl.

Maggie stands and stretches back slightly, stiff from sitting, and her shirt rides up to reveal a very well-defined abdomen.  _ Oh _ .  _ That’s why _ . 

“We go to a boarding school, little Danvers, I’m not sure anyone here is straight,” Maggie jests, and when Kara scowls at her she sobers somewhat, “look, all I’m saying is that I’ve got a pretty good gaydar and Lena Luthor doesn’t exactly scream  _ straight _ .” Kara takes a few moments to ponder her words and realizes that the other girl  _ does  _ have a point. No girl took that much of a notice to make sure her nails were properly maintained unless she was gay, but Kara shakes her head firmly. 

“No. She has to be straight,” she says again, with purpose. “Besides, even if she wasn’t, why would she like  _ me? _ ” It’s said somewhat hopelessly and it makes Alex’s face crumble, because Kara has never been able to see what affect she has on other people, how much others adore her. “I’m just normal, run-of-the-mill Kara Danvers.”

Alex opens her mouth, doubtlessly about to launch into a very sisterly tirade about how amazing Kara is, but she’s in no mood to listen and just slumps dejectedly back into the couch. 

“You’ll get through this,” Alex tells her instead, already dialling the number to get potstickers delivered, “promise.”

If Kara had known how much drama being friends with Lena Luthor would cause, she wouldn’t have agreed to their little arrangement in the first place.

(That is a blatant lie and she knows it.)

Winn keeps trying to warn her off, and, as a result, Kara starts actively avoiding him, trying her best to ignore the hurt looks he shoots her whenever she shrugs him off and says that Alex needs her for something when they both know Alex is too busy making out with Maggie to need her for  _ anything  _ at that moment. 

Because even though Winn is looking out for her best interests―or so he  _ thinks _ ―she’s really tired of him warning her about the dangers of being friends with a Luthor. Because she really  _ likes  _ Lena―of course she does, she’s practically a lovesick puppy―but especially as a friend because Lena just radiates confidence and strength but around Kara she relaxes and it’s so refreshing to be friends with someone who  _ hadn’t  _ known her since her early childhood.     

“Kara!” she hears him before she sees him, walking through the bustling hallways in an attempt to get the library and she curses inwardly because Winn isn’t going to let her go that easily. So instead, she takes a shortcut she’s pretty sure he doesn’t know about, and ends up in a shallow alcove that she’s pretty sure would have interesting stains if one was to bring a blacklight inside of it.

“Interesting seeing you here.” She nearly jumps out of her skin when she hears that familiar purr of a voice and dies a little bit on the inside when she realizes that she has someone found herself  _ alone  _ in an alcove used for  _ Rao  _ knows what with Lena Luthor. 

The gods must surely be punishing her at this point. 

“Lena!” Kara wants to bang her head against the stone wall at how squeaky her voice sounds, but it isn’t her fault. She’s been caught off guard. She’s  _ allowed  _ to squeak. “What are you doing here?”

Even in the shadows of the alcove she can see Lena’s eyes sparkle. 

“I think I’m more interested in what  _ you’re  _ doing here,” Lena drawls, and Kara gulps because  _ Rao  _ Lena’s voice does  _ things  _ to her. 

“I was running away from my friend,” Kara offers in form of an explanation, and Lena raises a single perfectly-manicured eyebrow and Kara wants to melt into a pile of goo on the floor―on second thought, she doesn’t, because, again, she doesn’t know  _ what  _ sorts of secretion have found their way onto this floor throughout the years―because why is she so damn  _ attractive _ . 

“Doesn’t sound like a very good friend if you have to run away from him,” Lena reasons, and Kara sighs deeply. 

“No, Winn’s great it’s just…” she pauses, searching for words. “He’s kinda in love with me.” Lena’s breath hitches slightly and she suddenly looks a lot more interested for reasons Kara can’t fathom, and her eyes have narrowed, and Kara notes they look more green than blue when she’s angry. Why would Lena be angry? She isn’t quite sure but she doesn’t know if she cares because  _ wow  _ Lena’s eyes are even prettier now. 

“What?”

“I know, right?” Kara laughs self-deprecatingly. “I don’t understand why either, but I don’t feel the same way, obviously, and…” She trails off, noticing that Lena is looking at her oddly. “What?”

“Don’t say that.” There’s a forcefulness in Lena’s tone that Kara doesn’t recognize but  _ likes _ , and the confusion must be evident on her face because Lena elaborates. “You are one of the most wonderful people I have ever had the pleasure of meeting, Kara Danvers, it’d be easy to fall in love with you.”

And then Kara is  _ actually  _ dying because why oh  _ why  _ would Lena say something like that to her. It’s unfair. 

But the moment passes quickly and Kara doesn’t have time to properly analyze Lena’s words because suddenly Lena is pressing her against the wall and oh  _ Rao  _ Lena’s body is pressed against  _ every part of her _ , and now she doesn’t  _ care  _ about the questionable state of this alcove she wants to  _ disappear _ . 

Lena presses a finger to Kara’s lips again―and honestly Kara might pass out at this point―and her face is  _ right  _ next to Kara’s and to anyone passing they must look like just another couple taking full advantage of the alcove, which Kara figures is the point when another pair come stumbling past. 

“Oh.” And now Kara  _ really  _ wants to die because she recognizes that voice. “Looks like this place is taken, babe.”

Curse Maggie Sawyer and her influence on Kara’s sister. The Alex Kara knew would not be sneaking around hidden alcoves in her passing periods. 

It takes them a few moments to leave but Lena still doesn’t move away from Kara and Kara’s not about to ask her to because she’s a masochist and being this close to Lena without being able to do anything is causing her  _ physical pain _ , but she wouldn’t trade this moment for anything. 

But then the other girl’s warmth is gone and Lena is grinning in her familiar way and pulling Kara out of the alcove through another path and Kara is helpless to do anything but follow. 

_ Mordo give me strength.  _

She really wishes she could’ve run away when she sees where Lena’s brought her. 

There are common rooms peppered throughout NCA’s large campus that are unofficially claimed by groups of people. For example, she frequents one on the first floor near the basements with Clark, Alex, Winn, James, and her other friends, so she automatically recognizes that she’s just entered the metaphorical lion’s den. 

Maxwell Lord appears to be in a heated debate with Veronica Sinclair, Lena’s brother is reading a book on a chair that looks like it costs more than Kara’s adoptive parents’ entire home, and Cat Grant is typing away at her phone, most likely maintaining her tumblr blog that Kara knows has over thirty thousand followers (she’s one of them, after all). 

“Oh, Lena, you’re back.” Cat is the first to notice their entrance. “And you’ve brought your little friend, how cute.” Cat looks at Kara the way Kara thinks a shark might look at a minnow and she  _ gulps  _ because it’s taken her this long to get used to being around Lena without having a nervous breakdown and now she’s around  _ all  _ of them. 

“Kiera.” Kara doesn’t even bother trying to correct the blonde girl on her name, because she knows that Cat doesn’t and probably will never care. “Could you be a doll and fetch me some coffee?” She’s halfway through turning and leaving the room before Lena gently grabs onto the back of her shirt and pulls her back, shooting a glare in Cat’s direction. 

“She’s not some personal assistent, Cat,” Lena scowls, “and her name is  _ Kara _ .” Cat raises an eyebrow in a manner eerily reminiscent of Lena―is that a rich kid thing?―but the interaction has gathered the attention of the other inhabitants of the room and Kara  _ really  _ wishes Lena would let her slink out and grab that coffee and maybe drown herself in it. 

“Hm,” Lex’s lip curls as though he’s just had some particularly sour milk and Kara’s stomach curls because he  _ knows  _ her and she knows he does. He’d come over to Clark’s too many times over summers when Kara was visiting to  _ not  _ know her. “Now that heinous hoodie makes sense, I thought you’d know better to associate with an  _ El _ .”

Lena looks confused but angry at her brother’s words, and Kara’s annoyance spikes because she  _ loathes  _ Lex Luthor and everything he put her cousin through. 

“Hair’s looking a bit long, Lex,” she snaps, “might be time for a cut, don’t you think?” In retribution for Lex’s betrayal of Clark’s friendship, her cousin and James had snuck into his dorm one night―after slipping some sleeping pills into his drink―and had shaved off all his hair, which Lex had always obsessed over. Almost protectively, he grabs at his hair and glares, and Cat Grant  _ laughs  _ and the noise is so unnerving it almost shocks Kara out of her anger.

“And the puppy bites!” she crows, clapping her hands together. “You sure know how to pick them, Luthor.” Lena rolls her eyes and pulls Kara up a set of stairs that she hadn’t seen and down a hallway to― _ Rao  _ she was in Lena Luthor’s  _ dorm _ . 

“Sorry about them,” Lena says after a moment, flopping on her bed ungracefully with an apologetic smile, “they can be a bit much, especially my brother.”

Kara smiles and nods before noticing her sweater hung on the back of Lena’s door and the other girl honest-to-Rao  _ blushes.  _ Blushes! It’s the most endearing thing Kara has seen in her entire life. 

“Sorry about not giving that back,” Lena says sheepishly, and Kara thinks that she’s been apologizing entirely too much that day, “it’s just… really comfortable and… smells… nice.” She looks somewhat embarrassed, as though she hadn’t meant to admit that, and Kara’s brain short-circuits because while she knew Lena wore her hoodie often she hadn’t thought that Lena would notice how it smelled distinctly of Kara and her strawberry scented shampoo and the vanilla scented candles she and Alex adored. 

“It’s okay,” Kara tells her, because, really, it is. It’s more than okay, even, because she’s often associated people exchanging jackets as an odd sign of intimacy and since she’s not going to ever be intimate with Lena―curse Rao in all his cruelty―it’s the second best thing. “I’ve got plenty of them anyways.” Lena opens her mouth to say something but then quickly changes her mind and starts on a different topic. 

“What did Lex mean when he called you an  _ El _ , by the way?” Kara had hoped she wouldn’t ask that question. “I thought your last name was Danvers?”

“It is,” Kara tells her, “but I was born a Zor-El. It’s a family line in the old religion.” Lena takes a moment to ponder her words before eyes that Kara can’t decide are blue or green light up in recognition. 

“The El family that helped found NCA?” she asks, almost excitedly, and Kara nods. 

“Yeah, it’s how Clark and I got our names written down,” she admits sheepishly, “an  _ El  _ is always welcome in our halls, Headmaster J’onzz said.”

“Clark?” Lena asks, but her eyes clear moments later. “That’s where I recognize the name. His is Kal-El, right?” Kara nods, and Lena makes the familial connection between the two of them quickly and her eyes widen. “You and Clark Kent are  _ cousins? _ ” At Kara’s nod she grimaces. 

“You must really not like my brother.”

“Not particularly,” Kara admits, before smiling softly, “I do like you, though.”

“Good,” Lena smiles, “because I like you very much…” She trails off and Kara again curses the gods because Lena Luthor shouldn’t be allowed to say those things to her because it gives her heart palpitations. “I really should’ve pieced it together sooner, with how much you mention the old gods.” Her eyes sparkle and  _ Rao  _ Kara is fucked. 

When Maggie sees Kara later and excitedly reports that she saw Lena Luthor in one of the kissing alcoves with a mystery girl, Kara seriously considers drowning herself in coffee again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was gonna make y'all wait for the next chapter but I'm just really excited about this ok so here it is hope you liked it! Comments and kudos are greatly appreciated come yell at me about how cute Supercorp is on my tumblr, [danaryas](http:www.danaryas.tumblr.com)


	3. in which clark makes a mess of things

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was listening to "Bite" by Troye Sivan on repeat whilst I wrote this chapter and then the entire Moana soundtrack because Moana is beAUTIFUL AND AMAZING GO WATCH IT IF YOU HAVEN'T ALREADY

Lena Luthor is going to be the death of her, of this Kara is sure.

She’s sitting across from Kara in the library, perfect eyebrows furrowed in confusion as she studies the astronomy book before her. She's wearing Kara’s hoodie and has shucked off her entirely too expensive, uncomfortable looking shoes to reveal  _ fluffy baby pink socks _ and  _ Rao _ if it isn't the cutest thing Kara has ever seen in her entire life. 

Kara just wants to rush over and kiss her. 

But she won't because Kara is  _ all _ about consent and Lena is  _ straight _ and it isn't possible. Not in a million years. 

Besides, Lena deserves better than Kara and Kara isn't that lucky. 

“Need some help?” Kara offers, and Lena looks up from the textbook and the way her expression instantly relaxes upon looking at Kara makes the other girl’s chest seize with anxiety. 

“No,” there's something coy about Lena’s tone and Kara’s probably imagining it but Lena is  _ staring  _ at her  _ face  _ and oh Rao does she have some sort of massive pimple? Reflexively, Kara goes to push her glasses up the bridge of her nose and frowns when her fingers meet no resistance. 

Oh. Right. She'd set her glasses down on the table because she's nearsighted and having them on when she read gave her headaches sometimes. 

“You're not wearing your glasses,” Lena comments at the exact moment Kara realizes the validity of her statement. There's a softness in Lena’s not-blue-not-green eyes that Kara has only seen several times, and her heart rate spikes. “Your eyes are really beautiful.” 

Kara can't help the instantaneous flowering of red across her cheeks and Lena laughs and it's  _ beautiful _ and oh  _ Rao  _ Kara really  _ really  _ wants to kiss her and then—

“Kara?” her heart sinks as she turns and  _ there he is _ , disapproving look and all. 

“Clark,” she starts weakly, quickly putting her glasses back on, and Lena’s expression is once more carefully neutral but at this point Kara knows her well enough to see the confusion in the slight crease between her brows, barely there. “Fancy seeing you here.” There's an undertone of panic in her voice and Lena must notice it because suddenly she looks defensive. 

“Luthor,” Kara winces because  _ Rao _ does Clark have a way of making  _ Luthor _ sound like  _ garbage  _ and she opens her mouth to defend the other girl but her cousin shoots her a withering glare and she quells, “might I talk to my cousin for a moment?”

Lena nods but doesn't move and Clark practically  _ growls.  _

“ _ Alone?” _

Lena looks to Kara, eyes swimming with concern. She's asking Kara if it's okay to leave her with Clark and Kara wants to cry because  _ Rao  _ Lena’s too good to be true and she  _ still _ wants to kiss her but instead she just nods and Lena picks up her book and makes to move. 

“Find me after, okay?” Kara nods once more and with a quick sashay of her hips Lena is out of the corner of the library and Clark just glares at her. 

“Clark—” she starts but he doesn't let her finish. 

“A  _ Luthor?” _ and there he goes again with the making the name sound like an insult. “ _ Really,  _ Kara? You know how they are!”

“Lena’s not like that!” Kara defends. “She's kind and actually  _ likes  _ me and—”

“Oh don't be naive, Kara,” Clark scowls, “grow up. She'll drop you the second she finds out, just like her brother.”

“Finds out  _ what,  _ Clark?” Kara challenges, but she knows it's a mistake when she says it because of  _ course  _ Clark knows. He always knows. 

“Oh, come  _ on, _ Kara,” he scoffs, “anyone with eyes can see how you  _ moon  _ over her like some lovestuck puppy.” He waves his hands around wildly and Kara wants to shake him. 

“You're being unfair,” she tells him, because he  _ is. _ “What happened to judging people on their own merits?”

“She lost any right to fair judgment the second she was adopted by the Luthors,” he responds vehemently, a fire in his eyes that almost scares Kara. 

“Lena isn't Lex, Clark.”

“I  _ knew  _ her, though,” Clark grinds out, “she's just like him.”

“People can  _ change _ !”

“Not Luthors,” Clark spits, “never Luthors.”

“How did you even  _ know?” _ Kara asks, and she prays it isn't Winn because  _ Rao  _ she doesn't want to lose another friend. 

“Lex Luthor walked up to me and told me to keep my  _ faggot _ cousin away from his sister.” The slur, dark and ugly, sounds foreign rolling off of Clark’s tongue and it makes Kara feel  _ sick _ . “Told me that our family was just a family of f—”

“Oh shut  _ up,  _ Clark!” Kara yells, because she's angry now.  _ Seething _ , in fact. “Just because Lex Luthor is a homophobic  _ asshole  _ who was disgusted by the mere  _ thought  _ of his best friend being in love with him doesn't mean you have to go and ruin  _ my  _ friendships.”

“She's not going to love  _ you _ , Kara, she's a  _ Luthor. _ ” The way he emphasizes the word  _ you _ hits Kara harder than the slur, and she can't help the watering of her eyes and before she knows it she's bolting out of the library. 

She can't really see where she's going, because her glasses have tear stains on them, but she runs into something decidedly  _ solid  _ and  _ warm _ and a strong pair of arms wraps around her and the tears just come quicker. 

“Kara?” Lena’s voice is softer than she's ever heard it and dripping with such  _ genuine concern _ that Kara just cries harder. 

She's vaguely aware that Lena moves her them out of the middle of hallway and into an empty classroom and she's crying into Lena and  _ Rao  _ it's embarrassing but she just can't stop. 

Her sobs eventually dissipate into hiccups, Lena’s grip warm and reassuring as her hands trace patterns on Kara’s back. 

“Do you want to talk about it?” Lena asks gently and Kara sighs. 

“Clark was being such a… such a stubborn, close-minded bitter…” she trails off, looking for a word, which Lena supplies. 

“Ass?”

“ _ Yes!” _ Kara agrees, but then she remembers  _ why  _ she'd run out of that room and realizes she had literally run  _ into  _ the cause of most of her problems and said source of disaster was  _ still  _ hugging her. 

“What were you arguing about?” Lena asks and Kara shouldn't tell her but she does. 

“You.” Lena’s brows furrow again as Kara takes a single step back to look at her. “Why? I mean I know Clark and Lex ended their friendship on bad terms but, why me?”

“Because,” Kara starts, but nothing seems right. 

_ Because he's my cousin and even though he was being an ass it's because he got his heart broken by a Luthor and doesn't want me to suffer the same fate.  _

_ Because every time I look at you my pulse quickens and my heart feels like it's about to burst from my rib cage and you suddenly become the center of my universe.  _

_ Because he thinks you're going to ruin me.  _

_ Because you already have. _

“Because…” she tries again, but sometimes actions speak louder than words and Kara is  _ tired  _ of pretending that everything is alright and takes a very purposeful step forward, taking Lena’s face gently in her hands before leaning down to do what she'd been wanting to do for  _ ages _ . 

Lena’s lips are soft. Even softer than Kara could've imagined and  _ Rao  _ they're the best thing in the world but Lena makes a small surprised noise and Kara realizes what she's doing and almost falls over herself in an attempt to put distance between herself and Lena. 

“... _ oh. _ ” Her eyes are wide and she looks so caught off-guard that Kara wants to cry again because of  _ course  _ Lena Luthor doesn't feel the same way and Rao she's an  _ idiot  _ and Clark was right. He's always right. 

She's running again before Lena can say anything else. She doesn't think she could bear to hear a rejection. 

Like a whirlwind, Kara enters her room, and Alex catches her, looking equal parts confused and concerned. Maggie is there, too, but Kara can’t bring herself to care about the other girl’s presence because she’s just so  _ broken  _ and just wants to cry everything out in the warm embrace of her sister’s arms. 

“Kara?”

Why does everything have to  _ hurt  _ so much. 

Alex holds her―like Lena had held her, Kara realizes with a jolt―and she cries and she cries and she cries. 

“You okay there, little Danvers?” Maggie asks, and Kara’s shoulders shake in response and she’s positive Alex shoots her girlfriend the universal look for ‘ _ really? you’re asking that?’ _ because Maggie quells and there’s no noise except for Kara’s frantic, hiccuped sobs. 

“Clark found out,” she says once she finds her voice, and her eyes are still watering and her voice cracks every other word but this is going to consume her if she doesn’t get it out, “about Lena.”

Alex’s face morphs into an expression of understanding but she doesn’t interrupt. At times like this, Kara just needs to talk it all out. 

“He was so  _ angry _ ,” she whispers, and then her hiccups interrupt her speech once more and she blows her nose thankfully into the tissue Maggie offers her, “and yelling and horrible and he was so  _ mean _ , Alex.” She shivers. “I’ve never seen him like that.”

Alex nods, but Kara knows she still doesn’t understand. 

“Is that the only thing that’s upsetting you?” she pries gently. “I know you, Kara, and Clark can’t have made you this hysterical.”  

Kara mumbles something indiscernible and Alex frowns.

“Sorry, didn’t quite catch that.”

Kara takes a deep breath, trying desperately to reign in her emotions, and speaks again, voice smaller than Alex has ever heard it since Kara had first been adopted. 

“I kissed Lena.”

And the matching, dawning expressions of horror and utter pity that cross Maggie and Alex’s faces at the same time are almost enough to make Kara laugh because  _ Rao  _ she’s pathetic. 

“I know,” she mutters darkly, “it was stupid.” Her shoulders curl inwards in an attempt to make herself look smaller. “I was stupid. Clark was right.”

She’s moved to the couch and wrapped in her favorite blankets and Alex and Maggie are talking to her but she isn’t really listening. Sometime during this, a cup of hot cocoa is pressed into her hands and Kara sips at it absentmindedly, noting that it’s the perfect drinking temperature. 

“It’ll be okay, Kara,” Maggie tells her, and Kara thinks that this is the first time that Maggie has called her anything  _ other  _ than little Danvers, “you’re strong, anyone can see that. You’ll get through this.”

Everyone keeps telling her that. 

That she’ll  _ get through this _ . 

Or  _ get over it _ . 

But the problem is Kara doesn’t think she  _ wants  _ to. 

Because, even in the face of rejection, all she wants is to be  _ near  _ Lena, to be with  _ Lena _ . And it’s terrifying. The thought that this girl could utterly, totally ruin her―and she has, in a sense, already done so―and Kara would still stupidly, unequivocally love her. 

_ Love _ . 

Kara isn’t sure she even knows what love is, not really. It isn’t something that she’s spent much of her time thinking about, but  _ Rao  _ if love is a real thing that she can experience, then that’s the word she chooses to describe her feelings towards Lena. 

_ Love _ . 

She didn’t know that love hurt so much. 

After an hour or so her tears have subsided and the cup of cocoa has been replaced with a fresh one, and Alex is still rubbing her hands on Kara’s back comfortingly as her younger sister remains cocooned in a mass of blankets. 

“Thanks,” Kara whispers quietly, and Alex nods. 

“Of course, Kara.”

There is a single moment of peaceful quiet.

And then a knock at the door.

It’s frantic and much too demanding and Kara sinks further into her blankets because she doesn’t even need to ask who it is. She knows.

“I’ll get it,” Maggie tells the sisters quietly, standing up to walk towards the door, and the way her body tenses upon cracking it open is all the confirmation Kara needs. 

“Is Kara here?” Lena sounds uncharacteristically uncomposed, and Kara presses further into her sister’s side. 

“Sorry,” Maggie says coolly, “you just missed her.”

It’s obviously a lie and Lena knows this. 

“ _ Please,” _ Lena pleads, “I need to talk to her.”

Maggie opens her mouth, doubtlessly to tell Lena to leave in a much less kind manner, but for some reason Kara’s voice decides to act on its own accord. 

“Let her in, Maggie.” Alex begins to protest immediately and Maggie scowls but Kara is already putting her cocoa on the table, “I figure I owe her a talk, at least.”

“You don’t owe her  _ anything _ ,” Alex insists, but Kara does. She had been the one to kiss Lena― _ without  _ asking her―so it was only fair she allowed Lena to come in and ask her questions. 

“Let her in,” Kara repeats, and Maggie grudgingly moves away from the door and allows Lena to enter. 

The first thing that Kara notices about her appearance is that her hair looks suspiciously windswept, as though she’d been running―which is odd, because she know Lena  _ hates  _ running―and the second thing she notices is that Lena’s eyes are slightly puffy and red and her eyeliner looks somewhat smudged. 

“Oh  _ Kara _ ,” Lena says, and Alex moves protectively in front of her sister, blocking Kara’s line of sight. 

“It’s okay,” Kara says again, “you and Maggie can go, Alex, Lena and I need to talk.” She exchanges a long look with her sister and then adds, as an afterthought. “I’ll call you if I need you.”

Unenthusiastically, Alex moves to leave, threading her fingers with her girlfriend’s before the two of them leave.

And then Kara and Lena are alone. 

Lena takes a few tentative steps towards Kara, who stands up so the two of them are at eye-level. 

“Kara I’m―” she can barely get out those two words before Kara’s rambling overtakes her. 

“I’m sorry,” Kara apologizes, and she’s glad that she’s all cried out now because if there was any water left in her body she’d surely start crying again. “I shouldn’t have kissed you, especially without your permission, and it was wrong of me. I completely understand if you don’t want to be friends anymore, though I hope that someday―”

“What do you  _ mean?” _ Lena interjects. “Why would I not want to be friends with you, Kara?”

“Why would you  _ want  _ to be?” Kara’s brows furrow and something clicks in Lena’s mind and Kara can see her moment of clarity, though she isn’t quite sure what her revelation had been. 

“You’re right,” Lena says and Kara’s heart crumples, “I don’t want to be friends with you.” So this is what heartbreak feels like. “Because I want  _ so  _ much more than that, Kara.”

She barely has time to register Lena’s words because the shorter girl has pulled her down, right hand finding its way to curl in the hair at the nape of Kara’s neck while her left cups her jaw, and Lena is kissing her. 

Kara’s so surprised that she takes a step back and then the two of them are tumbling onto the couch and the jolting movement forces the two of them to separate and Lena is looking at Kara as though she hangs the stars in the sky every night and Kara is gazing back at Lena with such raw, unmasked  _ hope  _ and both of their hearts are breaking but at the same time oh so  _ full _ . 

“You’re sure?” Kara asks quietly, feeling entirely more vulnerable with Lena draped over her. 

“I have never been sure of anything more in my life than I’ve been of you, Kara Danvers,” Lena whispers back adoringly, and Kara’s lips break into a radiant smile and then Lena is  _ kissing  _ her again and it’s soft and clumsy and somewhat tearful but it’s perfect and Kara wouldn’t trade it for anything in the world. 

Kara laughs when Lena laces their fingers together and pulls away, only to begin peppering kisses over the rest of Kara’s face. On her forehead, her nose, her cheeks,  _ everywhere _ , and Kara thinks her heart might burst from overflowing. 

“I thought you were straight,” Kara mutters once Lena has slowed in her affection and pulls Kara into her chest, soaking in her presence. 

“Kara I’ve been flirting with you for  _ ages _ ,” Lena tells her, matter-of-factly, and Kara blinks owlishly.

“ _ Really?” _

“Really,” Lena agrees, and her voice is brimming with unhidden adoration as she tucks hair behind Kara’s ear, “you were just a bit too oblivious to notice.”

“I didn’t think there was even a  _ chance _ ,” Kara whispers reverently, “not me. Not you. Not  _ us _ .”

“Why do you think I even signed up for astronomy?” Lena laughs, and when Kara twists to look at her, confused, Lena rolls her eyes fondly and presses a soft kiss to Kara’s nose. 

“I’m not exactly an avid astronomer, Kara,” she says, and when Kara still doesn’t get it she sighs and elaborates, “I knew it was a subject you were interested in so I signed up specifically so I could spend time with you.”

“You,” Kara sputters, “you  _ what?” _

“I’ve been holding quite the candle for you,” Lena tells her seriously and Kara still can’t quite wrap her head around this new information because all this time she’d been pining after Lena, Lena had been pining after  _ her _ .

“But  _ why _ ?” Kara persists, flabbergasted. “I’m just―”

“Don’t you dare put yourself down again, Kara,” Lena interrupts, “god, you really don’t know the effect you have on people, do you?” At Kara’s silence, Lena continues. “You’re like a ray of sunshine. Every room you enter becomes a little bit warmer, a little bit brighter, and people gravitate to you. Your personality is magnetic, and you’re one of the most honest, caring, well-meaning people I know.”

Kara gapes and Lena tightens her grip around Kara’s waist. 

“Didn’t I tell you that it would be easy to fall in love with you?” her words cause Kara’s heart to stutter. “I wasn’t lying, you’re entirely too lovable.”

“You really think so?” Kara asks, voice small. 

“I know so,” Lena assures, and Kara’s smiling and then they’re kissing again and kissing Lena feels like coming home.

It’s the best feeling in the world.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So because Supercorp is taking over my life I've decided to extend this, tentatively to ten chapters, because I figured there needed to be some resolution for the whole Clark & Lex situation and how different people react to Lena and Kara's relationship. 
> 
> Also, supercorp dating fluff. 
> 
> Hope you're enjoying so far! Comments and kudos are greatly appreciated! Come yell at me on tumblr, [danaryas](http://www.danaryas.tumblr.com)


	4. in which cat grant is a hero and man hell can choke

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really don't like Mon-el, can you tell?

**Chapter Four**

Kara Danvers is on cloud nine. 

She and Lena are cuddling on Kara’s usual chair in the library, easily finding space for two curling up in one another, and Lena’s hands are dragging through Kara’s hair softly and it’s heavenly. Kara softly reads the contents of their astronomy textbook aloud, fingers tracing the constellations on Lena’s thigh as she reads and it’s so domestic and intimate and it’s  _ perfect _ . 

“Have I ever told you how cute you are when you talk about space?” Lena whispers, and Kara can feel her words ghost across her exposed neck. She can’t help the goosebumps that raise, and Lena smirks against them, pressing a quick kiss to the easily accessible skin. 

“Maybe once,” Kara admits, and it’s strange to realize that she can’t keep track of all the compliments Lena has showered with, because apparently the other girl was utterly endeared with every tiny little aspect of Kara. 

“Well I need to tell you more often,” Lena decides, before resting her head back in the crook of Kara’s neck, “because it’s adorable.”

“If I’d known that blabbing on about the stars would get me a girlfriend, I would’ve signed up ages ago.” Lena laughs softly, moving one hand away from Kara’s hair to grip possessively at her waist. 

“No other girls,” she warns, “just me.”

“Of course,” Kara concedes easily, and then Lena peers up at her.

“So we’re girlfriends, huh?” She’s teasing, and Kara knows because her eyes are sparkling and there’s a slight upturn to her lips that she can’t fight down, but she  _ still  _ blushes. Kara curses Rao for her easy flustering, often reminiscent of a tomato.

“I mean, I didn’t want to assume but I figured―” Lena cuts her tirade off with a kiss before it can flourish into a fully-formed ramble, smiling against Kara’s lips as she laughs. 

“You’re especially cute when you ramble,” Lena tells her when she pulls away, and Kara flushes  _ again _ , “and when you blush.” Kara opens her mouth again but Lena shakes her head fondly and continues. “I would love nothing more than to be your girlfriend, Kara Danvers.”

Her shoulders slump almost comically with relief and Lena snorts.  _ Snorts _ . 

It’s the cutest noise Kara has ever heard in her entire life.

“Hey Kara can you help me with this star chart? I can’t find Cassiopeia for the life of m― _ whoa  _ there.” 

Kara looks lazily up at Winn, who’d been too busy frowning over his own textbook to notice how comfy she’d gotten with the Luthor twin he’d tried to warn her off from one time too many, and Lena mimics the action, arching a single eyebrow impossibly high as if to  _ dare  _ him to say something. 

“Winn,” she greets cheerfully, and Lena must remember what Kara had said about this particular friend being ‘ _a little bit in love with her_ ’, as the hand around her waist tightens in its grip and she finds herself infinitesimally closer to her girlfriend―girlfriend! Lena Luthor is her _girlfriend!_ _Her_ girlfriend!―relishing in the warmth the other girl provides. 

“You,” he sputters, still not wrapping his head around the entire situation, “she…”

“Oh you must be Kara’s friend.” The way Lena’s tongue wraps around the word  _ friend  _ is certainly effective in pressing the fact that Winn is  _ only  _ her friend. “I’ve heard so much about you.”

Plenty of rants at Winn’s unfounded overprotectiveness, that was sure. Kara nudges Lena softly, though, because even  _ she  _ is a little intimidated and Lena is her  _ girlfriend _ ―and  _ Rao  _ does Kara get a thrill every time she comes to this realization―and Winn means well, really. Begrudgingly, Lena lets up with her pseudo pissing contest, which is ridiculous and unfounded, because Lena is her  _ girlfriend _ ―hers! Kara Danvers’ girlfriend!―and she knows that Winn isn’t her competition in any way, shape, or form. 

“What’d you need?” Kara asks, and Winn shakes his head. 

“Ah, no, it’s okay I’ll just, just go.” He almost trips over himself in an attempt to put distance between himself and the two girls cuddled up on the plush chair.  

“Good riddance,” Lena mutters, and Kara shoots her a bemused look. 

“Jealous?” she teases, and Lena grumbles and buries her face further into her girlfriend’s―because! that’s what they are! girlfriends!―honeycomb colored hair. 

“Of course not,” Lena brushes off, and then smirks into Kara’s shoulder, “besides, he’s got nothing on me anyways.” Kara laughs, bubbling and free, and Astra shoots her a dark glare from her desk but Lena’s adoring look is well worth the potential scolding from the librarian. 

“Alright, enough studying,” Kara announces after a few more minutes of being less than productive, and she swears she can hear Lena mutter some sort of thanks. She stands unsteadily, but the gentle weight of Lena on her side throughout the entirety of their stay in the library means said half of her body is entirely  _ asleep _ , but before she can topple over Lena reaches out almost instinctively and places a steadying hand on Kara’s waist. 

“Come on, Bambi,” Lena grins, “let’s get some food in you.”

As though on cue, Kara’s stomach rumbles, and she smiles sheepishly at Lena.

“Potstickers?”

“Anything for the missus,” Lena responds with a wink, and then she’s linking their hands together again―and her hands are soft and fit perfectly in Kara’s and Kara doesn’t believe in soulmates but  _ Rao  _ it feels like their hands were made specifically to meld together―and leading Kara out of the library and down the halls to the exit of the school. 

It’s a brisk Saturday afternoon, and the two of them are already bundled in jackets, so venturing from the campus isn’t really much of a challenge. They’re upperclassmen, and the town is open to them when class isn’t in session, and Kara smiles warmly at the doorman as they pass. 

Halfway through their walk, strolling through the town, they’re interrupted. 

“Luthor! Hey Luthor!” Lena’s expression darkens at the unfamiliar male voice and Kara frowns slightly, confused. A boy a few years their senior is running up to them, bowtie nestled snugly around his neck, brown hair slightly unkempt. 

“How fast can you run?” Lena asks under her breath, but before she and Kara can come up with a suitable escape plan he’s upon them, eyes tracing up their forms lasciviously, a lazy grin etched on his face. 

“Has Lex given any thought on coming to MU?” he asks, either entirely ignorant of their discomfort or uncaring. At the name of the college, Kara understands. Metropolis University is the private college entirely too close to NCU’s campus, and the boys there practically  _ reeked  _ of fraternity and meninism. 

“No.” Lena’s tone is clipped and the boy pouts at her in a way he must think is endearing but Kara just finds entirely annoying. 

“Awe, c’mon, Luthor, don’t be so glum,” his eyes are dancing and Kara wants to punch him, but then his eyes turn their full attention to Kara and a long, appreciative whistle draws from his chapped lips. 

“Well, who might you be?” his grin is almost predatory and Kara has officially gone past the realm of uncomfortable to fully  _ squeamish  _ in his presence. 

“No one to concern yourself with,” Lena snaps, but he takes this as a challenge and extends a hand. 

“The name’s Daxom, Mike Daxom,” he tells her, and when Kara doesn’t accept the hand his smile widens, “a challenge, eh? Well, I’m never one to back down from a challenge. I’ll see you around,  _ sweetheart _ .”

He takes his leave and Kara shudders but before she can take much time to think about what’s happened Lena is tugging on her arm and before she knows it Kara is in shady looking alley―what is it with Lena and questionably hygienic dark places?―and Lena is kissing her. 

It’s different than their previous kisses, which had been soft and tentative and warm. Gentle exchanges between two girls trying to explore their new relationship. 

This kiss is breathy and bruising and utterly  _ sinful _ . It takes Kara by surprise and she gasps softly, and Lena takes full advantage of this to lick into Kara’s mouth and  _ Rao  _ Kara has found nirvana because she’s certain Lena’s tongue is her new favorite thing in the entire world. When they pull apart, breathless and panting, Lena’s eyes are so dark they’re almost emerald and her pupils are blown and Kara knows she can’t have been better off. 

“What was that for?” Kara asks. “Not that I minded, but…” 

“I didn’t like the way he was looking at you,” Lena admits, and Kara’s eyes dance. 

“Jealous, Luthor?” The other girl’s already dark eyes seem to darken even further, and Lena presses Kara against the wall harder and Kara  _ gulps _ . 

“I wouldn’t tease me now if I were you, sunshine,” she purrs, and  _ Rao  _ Kara needs a cold shower. Like. Right that moment. But the moment passes quickly and Lena pulls Kara back into the sunlight and smirks proudly at how dishevelled Kara is. 

“I don’t think red’s your color, darling,” she comments, taking a finger and slowly wiping it across Kara’s lips, where her forceful embrace had smudged deep red, “I suppose I’ll have to keep you in mind when I choose my color from now on.”

Lena Luthor is going to be the  _ death  _ of her.

Other than the encounter with the Daxom idiot, lunch is a peaceful affair, Lena boggling at how Kara can eat  _ so many potstickers _ , and still remain so thin. 

“I just have a really fast metabolism,” Kara shrugs and Lena bemoans that  _ she  _ doesn’t have such luck. 

They walk back to the school, hands laced, Lena leaning into Kara’s side slightly, and thankfully no wannabe frat boys interrupt them on the trip home. 

“Wanna watch a movie?”

Kara agrees to this idea readily, as she isn’t too eager to part from Lena either, and the shorter girl smiles at her warmly. 

“Good, we can go back to my room.” Kara had noticed the TV mounted on the wall the last time she was there. One of the perks of being the daughter of one of the most successful, feared business couple in the country, maybe even the  _ world _ . 

With her hand linked in Lena’s, it doesn’t feel like she’s entering a lion’s den anymore. Besides, Cat Grant likes her, somewhat, she just has an odd way of showing it. 

“ _ Kara _ ,” said girl greets, pronouncing Kara’s name pointedly to appease Lena, who grins lazily at her. 

“Glad to see you’ve finally got your names straight, Grant.”

“Not as any favor to you, Luthor,” Cat shoots back, eyes peeled on their connected hands. 

“Of course not,” Lena smirks, though her expression freezes when Lex appears in the stairway, eyes immediately zeroing in on Kara’s hand, where Lena’s grip has tightened. 

“What’s this?” he asks coolly, and Lena takes a deep breath. 

“Lex, you know Kara,” her voice has an edge to it that is unfamiliar and Kara shivers despite herself, “my  _ girlfriend _ .” Kara still thrills at the word, but the ugly, twisted expression of disgust that immediately crosses his face. 

He opens his mouth, likely to spew slurs and homophobic comments, but Cat Grant cuts in before he can, an unlikely ally in this endeavor. 

“Oh do shut up before you embarrass yourself, Lex,” she scowls, “you haven’t even spoken but I can already sense the idiocy of your words. Not that it’s any different from your usual blabber, you’ve always been the less academically gifted out of you and your sister.” She sniffs and looks at him haughtily, as though it physically pains her to do so. 

“It’s twenty-sixteen,” she continues with a glare, “your homophobic views have no place in our ever-changing country. So clean up your act before you push  _ another  _ person away from you, and I don’t think you’ll be able to forgive yourself for cutting your  _ sister  _ out of your life as well as you were able to justify eliminating your best friend.”

Lex glares but says nothing, disappearing up his stairway. 

“Thank you,” Lena says softly, and Cat rolls her eyes. 

“Didn’t do it for you, Luthor, don’t be going soft on me,” her blue eyes are soft, however, understanding, and Kara smiles at her radiantly, “couldn’t upset the puppy, now, could we?”

Lena and Kara make their quick escape up to her room, but movie-going is quickly ignored in favor of cuddling and just soaking up the comfort provided by the presence of the other.

* * *

 

“I still can’t believe you’re dating Lena Luthor,” Alex repeats, and she sounds like a broken record player with how many times she’s voiced her surprise. 

“Me neither,” Kara laughs, and Alex rolls her eyes, shoving Kara lightly on the shoulder. 

“That’s not what I mean you dweeb.” Kara makes a small offended noise at being called a dweeb, but Alex continues. “I just thought the two of you would spend a lot longer pining over each other before you pulled your heads out of your asses and  _ did  _ something about it!”

“Hey!” Kara exclaimed indignantly. “I did something about it!”

“Yeah and then had the panic of the century,” Alex scoffs, “Kara, you didn’t even know she was  _ flirting  _ with you.”

“You didn’t either!” Kara defends, but her eyes narrow when Alex remains suspiciously quiet. “ _ Alex _ ?”

She grins sheepishly. 

“Maggie told me,” she brushes off, “besides, you don’t think I can’t pick out your blush, even in a dark alcove?” Kara turns bright red, sputtering. 

“Nothing was happening!”

“No, but Lena definitely  _ wanted  _ things to happen,” Alex smirks, and Kara scowls at her, throwing a pillow in her sister’s direction. 

“Regardless, you broke sister code,” she gasps, mocking betrayal, “you’re supposed to tell me  _ everything  _ when it comes to girls I crush on!”

“But it was so fun to watch you panic,” Alex teases, and before she knows it, Kara is upon her, hitting her over the head with her weapon of choice: the mighty pillow. 

“Kara!” Alex laughs. “Let up!”

“Never!” Kara vows, ducking expertly under Alex’s own, haphazardly aimed pillow. “This is treason of the highest offence, so you, Alexandra Danvers, are sentenced to death by pillow!”

“You’ll have to catch me first!” Alex laughs, springing off of the couch and darting out of their dorm and into the hallway. 

“Come back here you traitor!” 

Kara almost runs head-first into her girlfriend, who catches her with a bemused look, eyeing the pillow in Kara’s hand warily. 

“Not for me I hope?” Kara’s cheeks tinge pink ever-so-slightly as she shakes her head. 

“Nope,” she pops the p and scans the room, “for my traitorous sister for breaking sister code. The punishment is death by pillow.” Lena nods sagely, playing along. 

“You know,” she says, quietly, “I think she ran into that storage closet over there.”

There’s a muffled: “Damn you, Luthor”, and then Alex finds herself cornered, the pillow assault not halting anytime soon.

“Uncle!” she yells between giggles. 

“You can’t just  _ uncle _ this, Alex,” Kara shakes her head, “should have thought about the consequences of your actions before you  _ betrayed  _ me.”

“What’d she even do?” Lena asks, entirely too amused by the entire situation. 

“She knew you were flirting with me and didn’t tell me,” Kara pouts, and Lena laughs. 

“Kara, I think  _ everyone  _ but you knew I was flirting with you.” Her eyes are dancing and Kara is struck with a moment of genius. Having been forced to endure weeks of finding Alex and Maggie in miscellaneous compromising positions, she figures it’s time to enact her own revenge. 

Looking for permission―which Lena grants her with a smile―Kara leans down and begins kissing her girlfriend, savoring in the softness of her lips and the horrified noise Alex makes. Lena tugs on her bottom lip with her teeth and Kara whines and the kiss is deepening, Lena’s hand wandering to grip Kara’s―

“Please stop! My eyes!  _ Kara _ !”

Lena chuckles into the kiss and pulls away, and Kara takes pride in how  _ green  _ Alex looks. 

Revenge is a dish best served with your girlfriend, after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bit of a shorter chapter, but the next one is going to be longer (Christmas time for Supercorp!) so hopefully that'll make up for it. That, and I was just really excited to post another chapter.
> 
> Comments, kudos always greatly appreciated! Much love <3


	5. in which kara and lena are soft gay puppies

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pure unadulterated fluff because I'm salty about Mon-El.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it took so long! I know I'm the worst :((((((
> 
> I know I promised a long chapter but I had a bit of a dry spell and was struck by sudden inspiration so I figured you'd appreciate a cute quick little update.

Kara stretches lazily, back arching in a manner reminiscent of a cat. From besides her, there is a small whine of discontentment, and she finds herself being tugged back by a wandering hand gripping the inside of her shirt.

Eyes still closed, Kara’s own arms reach forward and wrap around the warm, cuddly body in front of her, pulling the other girl closer until Kara’s nose was buried in a mess of ebony hair that smelled like morning dew and roses and  _ Lena Lena Lena.  _

The air around them is crisp and cool, the product of early December mornings. Still asleep, Lena turns so she is facing Kara, cold hands finding a resting place on Kara’s toned stomach. 

Startling from the chill, Kara’s eyes blink open lazily, and she beams, radiant and shining, when she sees the position that the two have found themselves in. She raises a hand and traces fingers softly through Lena’s tresses of tangled hair, fingers scratching at the other girl’s scalp ever-so-gently, and Lena leans into the ministrations unconsciously. Still smiling, Kara begins to hum a lullaby that she remembers, faintly, her mother singing to her as a child. 

It’s early mornings like these, the first rays of the sun creeping over the horizon and illuminating Lena’s soft skin with an ethereal glow, breath steady and the world at peace, that Kara loves the most. It’s only the third or fourth time she’s slept over in Lena’s room, and the novelty of their pure  _ togetherness  _ still hasn’t worn off, and Kara’s not sure if it will. She could get used to it, though, just the morning light to keep her company as she watches her girlfriend slowly try and fight consciousness, hair fanned out like a halo and skin soft against Kara’s. 

It’s innocent and wholesome and good, intimate and familiar in a way that Kara hasn’t ever experienced. Hands were known to stray once in awhile, but nothing has escalated beyond that. Lena is entirely aware of Kara’s boundaries and hesitation, and always knows when to pull away―if a bit reluctantly―brushing off Kara’s stammered apologies. 

Kara adores her. 

To think that, a mere month or so ago, they hadn’t been able to do this, be so close together, is a foreign concept to Kara. Now that she has Lena in her arms, warm and lovely, she can’t fathom a time when she  _ didn’t  _ have Lena. 

The cold hands that have slowly begun to warm against the defined expanse of Kara’s stomach twitch and Kara fights the urge to roll her eyes when they begin to slowly creep higher. Lena never is subtle in the mornings. 

“Now I know you’re awake,” Kara mutters to the smirking girl tucked under her chin. 

“‘M cold,” Lena argues sleepily, and Kara shivers when cold hands grip at her chest, skin pebbling wherever Lena touches. She reaches her hands into her own shirt and gently tugs Lena’s away, smiling at Lena’s displeased whine. 

“Maybe later, when your hands aren’t so cold,” Kara suggests, and Lena cracks open one shining, mischievous eye. 

“Where’s my morning kiss?” she asks petulantly, and Kara follows through with rolling her eyes this time. 

“I’d wait until after we’ve brushed our teeth,  _ your highness _ ,” Kara teases, and Lena frowns at her, a pout forming on plump, perfectly kissable lips. 

“Don’t care,” Lena brushes off, tugging at the collar of Kara’s shirt, and Kara allows herself to be pulled down, Lena’s lips eagerly seeking out her own, and they’re soft and lovely―everything about Lena is lovely―and Kara can’t help but smile when Lena nibbles at her lower lip. 

Kara rolls so that she’s straddling the shorter girl, and Lena chases her lips when Kara straightens, hands reaching for the small of Kara’s back and sending shivers up her spine. Their kiss deepens, Lena’s tongue teasing Kara’s mouth open, and Kara can’t help her contented hum when Lena bites at her lip this time, tugging at it before applying soft, soothing pressure to it immediately afterward. 

Kara squeaks when Lena flips them over, eyes alight. 

She’s the picture of beauty in the early morning shine of the sun, hair dishevelled, wearing nothing but an oversized t-shirt and a pair of boxers she’d filched from Kara’s closet when she thought the other girl wasn’t watching. Eyes that are more green today than they are blue shine with mischief, pupils darkening them. 

“Two can play at that game, Danvers,” she purrs, and Kara shivers, tugging her girlfriend down to reconnect their lips, all previous concerns about morning breath forgotten. Lena refuses to let her regain the upper hand, though, and Kara is helpless to the Luthor’s ministrations as she’s pressed back into the small mountain of pillows, Lena chases her relaxed form with her mouth, her tongue, her teeth. 

Kara keens―legitimately  _ keens― _ when Lena sweeps her hair to part to the right, darkened eyes fixing Kara with the  _ look  _ that Kara has become familiar with in the past few weeks, and then Lena leans forward, and instead of meeting Kara’s lips, she plants open-mouthed kisses down Kara’s cheek and down towards her neck.

She stops at the hollow of Kara’s neck, eyes meeting Kara’s sharply, a silent request for permission, and Kara nods breathlessly, lost in the moment. Lena grins at her, lazy and somewhat predatory, and begins kissing the sensitive spot, grinning against Kara’s skin as the girl shivers and her back arches like it had earlier. 

Lena laps at the spot with her tongue teasingly for a few moments, before parting her lips and sucking, a sharp, pinching sort of pain that Kara finds oddly pleasurable―she hadn’t thought pain could be a source of pleasure, prior to Lena, but Lena had a way of  _ enlightening  _ Kara to certain aspects of life―getting to work on a mark Kara knows will purple and bruise but can’t bring herself to care about. 

Besides, she’d seen Alex with hickies one too many times for her sister to be able to tease her about it, and Kara found the reminders that she was  _ Lena’s  _ and Lena was hers entirely too pleasing. 

It’s Kara’s turn for her hands to wander, and she snakes up underneath Lena’s shirt and brushes a tentative finger over an already stiff nipple, and Lena shudders from just the whisper of a touch, faltering slightly in her administrations before returning to them full force, and Kara grabs at soft, supple skin, mouth hanging slightly ajaw. 

Lena eventually returns to Kara’s lips, and the kiss softened, fondly, before Lena left one last peck and parted, somewhat mournfully, and Kara grinned at her, kissing her girlfriend’s cheek. 

“I’m going to take a shower,” Kara announced, moving to go to Lena’s bathroom,  _ a nice, cold shower.  _

“Can I join?” Lena asked teasingly. “You know what they say about conserving water and all.”

“Maybe another time, babe,” Kara answered, and if she purposefully added a sway to her hips as she walked away from Lena’s bed, neither she nor the other girl were complaining. 

Later, Maggie’s lips pull into a smirk at the mark on Kara’s neck, Lena’s hand intertwined with Kara’s own, and Alex winces as though she’s been struck. 

“Nice one, little Danvers,” Maggie comments, “and good form, Luthor.”

Lena offers Maggie a faux salute and Kara laughs. 

Dating Lena has offered Kara a sense of domesticity she hadn’t realized she’d been missing from her life. Walking through the halls, hands linked together, exchanging soft kisses and smitten looks, makes Kara feel as though she’s home. 

It’s nice. 

“Kara, darling,” Kara smiles when Lena’s whisper reaches her ears, and she turns to better observe the girl she’s snuggled up in a chair with, “you seemed a little lost in thought, there.” 

“I was just thinking,” Kara offers in lieu of a real explanation, and Lena hums, pressing a soft kiss to Kara’s hand as her eyes continue to trace the lines of her politics textbook, brows furrowed. 

“Anything in particular?”

“You,” Kara answers honestly, and Lena looks up from the book, a small smile finding its home on her previously serious face. 

“Flatterer,” Lena accuses, and Kara laughs, and it feels so  _ right _ . 

They part ways after their free period, Lena to go to a math class that Kara could never hope to wrap her head around, and Kara to go seek out her sister for some help in science. 

Instead, she finds herself face-to-face with her cousin, whom she’d been avoiding like the plague since their last interaction. 

“Clark,” she says cordially, before moving to walk around him, and he reaches out a hand to stop her before thinking better and retracting it. 

“Kara,” he begins, softly, “can we talk?”

She looks at him for a long moment, trying to find malice or insincerity in his eyes, and when she finds none, she nods tersely. She doesn’t like being mad at him, doesn’t like being mad in general, especially around the holiday season, and  _ especially  _ with family, so she supposes she’ll hear him out. 

“I wanted to apologize,” he tells her once they’ve rounded a corner and arrive in one of the common rooms, strangely unoccupied for that time of the day, “for how I acted, when I first saw you with Luth―with  _ Lena _ ―” he corrects himself, and Kara can’t help but hope this means he’s come to his senses, “I was an ass.”

“You were,” Kara concedes, and Clark chuckles weakly. 

“I know I hurt you, and I never meant to do that,” he continues sincerely, “I never wanted to hurt you, Kara, never. You’re my cousin, my blood, and I was too caught up in my own bitterness that I couldn’t see that you were happy. And you deserve to be happy. So,  _ so _ much.”

There are tears forming in his eyes and Kara resists the urge to reach out and embrace him.  _ Not yet,  _ she tells herself,  _ just wait a little longer _ . 

“I’m really sorry,” he confesses, and Kara knows he means it, “I really didn’t mean to hurt you, Kara, and I’ll spend however long it takes making it up to you. But you deserve happiness, and if Lena Luthor makes you happy, then be happy with Lena Luthor.”

The two cousins stare at each other for a long moment and Kara pulls Clark into a hug and feels his warm tears drip onto her shoulder, and if she’s being honest she’s tearing up a little bit too, because she loves Clark like he’s her brother, which he might as well be. 

“Never be an idiot like that ever again,” she instructs seriously, and Clark laughs wetly, when she adds, as an afterthought: “meathead.”

“Never,” he agrees, and Kara offers him a pinkie that he readily accepts, and just like that, they’re friends again. 

(Kara never was good at holding grudges, she simply had too much love to give to the world to focus a significant amount of her energy on negativity.)

The cracks in their friend group slowly mend themselves after Kara and Clark make up. Winn and James joke around with Alex and Maggie again, and Lena and Winn play chess―Lena taking great pleasure every time she absolutely  _ destroys _ the boy―and Clark shakes Lena’s hand and apologizes to her, too.   

By the time the week of Christmas rolls around, Lena is comfortable with the group for their weekly game nights, and has no problems engaging with verbal battles with Clark over which of the new Star Wars characters is the best. 

(He argues starkly in defense of Poe while Lena rants on and on about how much better Rey is, and Kara thinks it’s adorable.)

Kara, being the genius she is, ties a bit of mistletoe to a meterstick and holds it smugly over Lena’s head whenever she wants a kiss, and the other girl rolls her eyes but kisses her anyways. 

“I don’t need mistletoe to kiss my girlfriend,” Lena points out, and Kara smiles. 

“But it’s  _ fun _ ,” she points out, “and  _ Christmassy.” _

“I don’t think that’s a word,” Lena deadpans, but Kara pouts and she gives in, entirely endeared. She puts up more of a fight when Kara presents her with santa hats and matching ugly sweaters, but nobody is immune to the full force of Kara Danvers’ puppy-dog eyes, and she eventually gives in. 

“If my mother saw me in this she’d throw a fit,” Lena mutters, looking down at the aforementioned article of clothing accusingly, and Kara grins and snaps a picture of the two of them, Kara beaming and Lena doing her best impression of the grinch. 

“I think we’re adorable,” Kara tells her seriously, and takes another picture when she kisses Lena on the cheek, capturing the other girl’s brief moment of utter, unconcealed joy. “And besides, it’s all in the name of christmas!”

“I’ve never been a big fan of the season,” Lena admits, though her expression is soft and fond and she looks at Kara as though she singlehandedly hangs every individual star in the sky. 

“Am I changing your mind?” Kara asks with a wiggle of her eyebrows, and Lena laughs. 

“You know, Kara Danvers,” she smiles, voice dripping with adoration, “you just might be.”

Kara wakes up on Christmas morning with a girl she has so quickly come to love wrapped up in her arms, cold feet tangled with Kara’s, and she’s struck by how perfect the moment is, how lucky she is to have found someone like Lena. 

She blinks a few times, though, concerned she’s still dreaming. 

“Lena?”

“Yes, darling?” the other girl responds sleepily. 

“My room is filled with flowers.” 

“Is it?” Lena smirks against Kara’s neck, slowly waking to blink up at her girlfriend innocently. “I had no idea.”

Kara grins and kisses her, and she thinks that Lena might be the best Christmas present she’s ever gotten.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some Kara and Lena boob grabs because they're gay and needy and who doesn't love a good boob grab? My point exactly. 
> 
> Also, I'll try to update semi-regularly, but school's been crazy and the sequel for hsau is taking up a good chunk of time. Thank you all for being so lovely with your comments! Your support means a lot. And consider this my birthday gift to y'all, since I turned seventeen yesterday, on VDay. 
> 
> As always, come check out my tumblr [here](http://danaryas.tumblr.com/) many thanks and much love! xoxo


	6. in which lena hasn't watched hercules

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> it's really gay

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was sitting in my drafts waiting to be published, and hasn't been edited so sorry in advance for any errors and for the wait. Finals are kicking my ass rn and I'm working on the hsau sequel w/ Niki as well as some other projects so I figured I'd just publish this to tide you guys over but seriously I'm getting carpal tunnel I hope you like it ahhhhh.

**** Kara has never been one for New Years resolutions. 

She always thought that they were just flimsy little promises that people made to themselves without any intent to actually bring them to fruition. A race that they began but never finished. The passing of years for her has always gone by without much fanfare or fireworks, just the passage of days in a week, passage of weeks in a month, a month in a year. 

Its different, entering a new year with someone at your side. 

She’s had Alex, throughout everything, of course, but sibling relationships were different, and while Kara adores everything about her older sister, she’d never gotten her into the parties and the sheer  _ volume  _ of New Year’s. 

Lena feels like a promise she’s going to keep, though. 

Christmas passes in a flurry of snowball fights and Star Wars marathons and rooms filled to the brim with flowers, mornings spent lazing around in bed and tracing patterns absentmindedly over sensitive skin. 

Never before has Kara started a year with something so good and pure and  _ wonderful  _ in her life, and Lena fills all of those requirements and exceeds them beyond what Kara could have ever imagined. She’s soft and kind and lovely,  _ so lovely _ , and there is something about her that clicks with Kara like two puzzle pieces for some grander scheme that neither had expected. 

After the death of her birth parents, Kara had stopped believing in the grace of the old gods. Of Rao and his light, of Cythonna and the cold she wrought on the world, of Yuda, the goddess of the moon and her gentle glowing nurture of those who looked upon her, of Telle and her wisdom, of Mordo and her strength, of Lorra and his infinite beauty. 

Lena makes her believe again. 

She sees all of the old gods in her. 

The fierce morality of Rao, the calm coolness of Cythonna, the hidden gentleness of Yuda, the never-ending wisdom and keen intelligence of Telle, the squared shoulders and set jaw of Mordo, and oh the beauty of Lorra. So much beauty. 

In her eyes are galaxies that Kara aches to explore, and as the New Year dawns, she realizes just how lucky she is to have stumbled across someone as wonderful as Lena. 

She tells her as much the next time she sees her, curled up on a plush chair, nose buried deep in a book. 

“I’m the luckiest person alive,” Kara announces, and Lena looks up from her book quickly, expression melding into fondness as soon as she takes in the sight of her. 

“Why’s that?” It’s an innocent question, and she likely expects a simple answer. 

“I was thinking about it earlier,” Kara tells her when Lena moves her book and motions for Kara to sit in her lap―one of Kara’s favorite places to sit nowadays―grinning down at her. 

“About how lucky you are?”

“Mhm,” Kara agrees, and when Lena raises an eyebrow she finally decides to take pity and divulge some form of explanation, “I was just thinking, that I must have done something exceptional in a past life, or gotten the best karma  _ ever _ , to end up deserving someone as lovely and wonderful and beautiful and kind and amazing as you.”

Lena stares up at her for a long moment, jaw agape, and Kara worries for a moment that perhaps she’s said too much too soon, because she doesn’t have much experience in terms of relationships, but Lena’s eyes well with tears and Kara learns that they look more green than blue when Lena cries―which is something she could have gone without knowing but she thinks is beautiful all the same―and Lena cups her face with her hands and all Kara can think of is how soft Lena’s skin is against her own and how much she wishes Lena would never cry ever again in her whole life. 

“I―” Lena has to stop, because her voice is raw and choked up with emotion and she’s vulnerable in a way that she isn’t usually, and Kara thinks she’s beautiful. (Kara always thinks she’s beautiful, but that’s besides the point.

She can’t speak, so Kara speaks for her. 

“I know we haven’t been dating very long, but I just feel, so,  _ so  _ lucky to have met you.” Lena’s lower lip wobbled and her hands are still cupping Kara’s face and Kara moves one of her own hands to brush a strand of hair away from Lena’s watering eyes. “And you just make me feel whole and safe in a way I haven’t in a very long time, and not to over exaggerate but you’re kinda my hero.” 

Lena brings Kara’s head forward and kisses her gently, tentative in a way she hasn’t been since the first kiss they exchanged, and though the brush of their lips is feather-light there are still somehow multitudes of emotion pressed into it, and Kara feels moisture gather at her own eyes. Lena holds her gently, reverently, as though she is made of glass, and stares at her as though she has hung all the stars in the sky.

“Kara Danvers,” Lena manages finally, “ _ you _ , are my hero.”

She says it with such reverence, like a prayer, and Kara has never felt so completely believed in, and from the way Lena is staring at her she knows that the other girl must feel the same, and the magnitude of emotion seems quite a bit larger than the two of them sitting there on that chair in that moment, but it’s perfect in its own little way. 

They don’t say anything else for a long while, content to just curl up in one another’s arms, and Kara once more relishes in the feeling of  _ home  _ that Lena brings. 

It’s wonderful.

As much as she builds up the beginning of a new year, a year in which she will hopefully never know a day without dating Lena Luthor, the actual passing of New Year’s Eve goes relatively quietly. 

Kara isn’t one for parties, and neither is Lena, and the two of them curl up together in a pile of blankets and pillows at the astronomy tower, which has rapidly become known across campus as  _ their spot _ , and watch the fireworks snuggled up together. 

Lena traces resolutions into Kara’s skin with her lips and in turn Kara chases away all of the sorrows from Lena’s year previous with her tongue, and it’s perfect. 

The passing of the holiday means that classes resume, however, which is anything but perfect. Kara’s grown accustomed to being able to spend the majority of her waking moments at Lena’s side, and the separation makes her grumpy. 

Alex teases her endlessly for it. 

“Why is little Danvers moping like a kicked puppy?” even when Kara is alone in her dorm, she’s never really alone, because Alex is always there, and, as a byproduct,  _ Maggie  _ is always there. 

“Lena got caught up in a mock trial meeting or something,” Alex explains, and Maggie smirks at Kara knowingly, “so Kara’s having some withdrawals.”

“I just miss her,” Kara whines, and the two others present exchange a  _ look  _ that Kara can’t put a name to but knows is something teasing and harrumphs when they look back at her with matching grins. 

“ _ What, _ ” she grinds out, and they only smile wider, and Kara mumbles something into her pillow about annoying older sisters and their stupid girlfriends. 

“You’re just still in the adorable honeymoon stage of your relationship together,” Maggie explains, taking pity on her, “it’s cute, is all, little Danvers.”

Kara’s cheeks flush but it's more out of contentment than embarrassment. She doesn’t think that she could ever be embarrassed about her relationship with Lena. 

Maggie, however, mistakes it as embarrassment. 

“Aw don’t blush,” she coos at Kara as though she’s some sort of puppy, “it’s adorable. And besides, every couple goes through it. Alex and I had a rather extensive honeymoon phase, didn’t we babe?”

Kara thinks back to the early days of Alex’s relationship with Maggie and smiles. She doesn’t recall a time where she’d seen her sister so  _ bubbly _ . Of course, there’d been the whole fiasco with Alex’s coming out and Maggie telling her that she didn’t think that it was a good idea for the two of them to date, but they’d figured it out eventually, and when they had  _ Rao  _ did Alex have a serious case of the hearteyes. 

“You two  _ were  _ ridiculously adorable,” Kara agrees, mind still in the past. It takes her a moment, but then she thinks about how Alex and Maggie had been  _ after  _ their honeymoon phase, in what they’d dubbed ‘Honeymoon Part Two’, which had been  _ much  _ less… family friendly. 

Maggie must have been a detective in her past life, because she always seems to know things, and she winks at Kara as the thoughts come to her, and this time Kara’s cheeks flush at the mere  _ implication  _ of her and Lena reaching that point. 

“Judging from your blush I assume you and Luthor haven’t engaged in the horizontal tango yet?”

“Maggie!” Alex and Kara voice their displeasure at the same time, Kara out of mortification and Alex out of horror at the thought of her baby sister in any situation remotely near the extent to how bad she and Maggie had been. 

Alex turns to Kara for clarification, though, and Kara’s cheeks burn brighter. 

“You haven’t, have you?”

“No,” Kara squeaks out from where she’s positioned herself behind several pillows, thoroughly embarrassed at this point. 

They’ve only been dating for around two months, and have been taking things at their own pace. Kara’s the one setting the pace, though, and Lena is wonderfully respectful about her boundaries and always knows when to back off. 

Kara knows that, when they do get there, eventually, it will have been well worth the wait. 

“Damn, Luthor is more chivalrous than I thought,” Maggie mutters under her breath, and Alex smirks as though in victory and Kara can’t help but wonder if they’ve been betting on her again. 

“She’s wonderful,” Kara reports matter-of-factly, and the two exchange a look again. 

“So we’ve been told,” Alex responds with a soft smile seeping with affection, and Kara unfurls from her position as the conversation calms. They’re excited for her, she knows, but sometimes they get to be a bit much. 

“Lena’s coming over here to get me after she’s out of her meeting, so that way you two will have this place to yourselves.”

“Doing anything fun?” Maggie waggles her eyebrows playfully and Kara rolls her eyes. 

“Catching up on homework and cuddling, avoiding the plague that is Lex.”

There’s a lull in the conversation for a moment and when Kara looks up Alex and Maggie are staring at her calculatingly, Maggie’s eyes narrowed and Alex’s jaw set. 

“...what?”

“Has he been giving you trouble?” Alex demands. “I know how awful he was when Clark came out, and god knows he can’t be taking his sister’s sexuality very well.”

“We can kill him for you, little Danvers,” Maggie promises, “and hide the body. Nobody will know.”

“It’ll be like he never existed.”

“Poof. Gone.”

“Whoa, whoa whoa, nobody is killing anybody,” Kara loves them, she really does, but they have a habit of overreacting, “especially not Lena’s brother, he may be an asshole, but he’s her  _ brother _ .”

They haven’t talked about it much, because Lena seems to wish to desperately avoid the topic, but Kara knows it’s inevitable. Cat Grant won’t always be around to save them, after all. 

“You’re sure? Because I can―”

“ _ Yes _ , Alex,” Kara assures, because Lena texts her that she’s there and she gets up to leave, “I love you!”

“Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do!” Maggie calls over her shoulder as Kara leaves, stumbling into Lena’s open arms. 

“I don’t think there’s much Maggie wouldn’t do,” Lena comments dryly, and Kara grins up at her. 

“My hero,” Kara greets, because she always seems to stumble whenever Lena is around―she can’t help it, Lena’s so beautiful it’s  _ distracting _ , and Kara’s little gay heart can’t take it―and Lena’s eyes are seeping with fondness when she kisses her softly in greeting. 

“I missed you,” Kara mumbles against Lena’s lips, and Lena laughs and Kara revels in the sound. 

“I was only gone for an hour, darling.” Kara’s heart stutters at the term of endearment that Lena’s taken a shining to, carefully threading her fingers through her girlfriend’s―she still can’t get over the novelty of the status―as they begin walking in the direction of Lena’s dorm. 

“An hour too long,” Kara complains, “I had to deal with Alex  _ and  _ Maggie.”

“A tragedy,” Lena deadpans, and Kara whines. 

“They’re bullies,” she insists, “all they do is tease me about you.”

“About me?”

Lena’s definitely teasing her, but Kara finds she doesn’t mind. 

“Mhm,” Kara raises Lena’s hand and presses a soft kiss to her pale knuckles before continuing, “talking about my  _ helpless puppy dog hearteyes _ , and  _ complete inability to coherently function around pretty girls _ . Psh. As if.”

“You  _ just  _ tripped into my arms, darling,” Lena points out, and Kara lets her win because being clumsily enamored with Lena Luthor is something to be proud of, in her very professional, unbiased opinion. 

Lex Luthor, as it turns out, is not of the same opinion. 

He’s there when they enter the common room of the dorm. He’s silent, likely due to Cat’s previous verbal lashing and his own sense of self-preservation―Luthors weren’t stupid, after all―but his eyes narrow when they zero in, once more, on the way Kara’s hand is linked in Lena’s and it makes Kara’s heart sink because how can someone see something so innocent and hate it?

“Lex,” Lena greets, and she’s guarded and it makes Kara ache because this is her  _ brother _ . 

“Lena.” He nods, and it’s cordial, stiff, completely unlike the interactions Kara recalls between the two of them in years previous. Lena’s grip on Kara’s hand tightens, grounding herself, and Kara steels herself for the impact. 

“I’m still your sister,” she starts, and Kara knows this is hard for her. Silently, she traces her thumb in patterns on the smooth expanse of Lena’s knuckles, “nothing’s changed.”

“I’d rather not do this in front of a crowd,” he states plainly, eyeing Kara with clear distaste.

“Whether you like it or not, Kara is a part of my life now,” Lena tells him, and it feels awfully lot like a declaration of permanence for something that has only been in existence for a short time in the grand scheme of things, “she makes me  _ happy _ , Lex, if you can take a moment to actually see that. Happy in a way I haven’t been for a very long time. And I’d expect you, my  _ brother _ , of all people, to be thrilled for me.” Her breath hitches and Kara squeezes, gently, and Lena squeezes back. 

“You’re my  _ brother _ .”

There’s a conflict in his eyes that Kara can clearly observe. For some reason he’s held onto his preconceived notion of hatred for so long, and he’s struggling to reconcile that with the memories he has of his sister, the girl he loves, that Kara knows he loves. 

He grimaces almost apologetically. 

“I’ll try,” he offers, and Kara supposes that’s as good as they’ll get for a long while. His eyes are sincere when he turns to Lena, though, and offers a parting: “I do love you, Lena.” Kara fights the urge to bite back  _ not all of her _ when his lip curls as his eyes pass her, but he turns on his heel and leaves and the two of them are alone again. 

“Come on,” Kara ushers gently, gathering Lena into her arms, “let’s get you into your room.”

Kara tucks Lena under her chin and presses her close to her chest as they lay in Lena’s bed, notions of completing homework forgotten. Lena grips at Kara as though she’s a lifeline, and after a few long moments Kara feels her body shaking with tears, and in that moment Kara hates Lex more than she’s hated anyone in her entire life, because he’s made Lena cry. 

“It’s okay, Lena.” Kara runs one hand through Lena’s hair and the other traces lightly across her back as she cries. “Let it out. I’m here, you’re okay. It’s okay.”

Lena’s usually so composed, so put together, and it breaks Kara’s heart to see her like this. So small and scared and her spirit dampened. 

“He’ll come around.” Kara doesn’t know if she’s convincing herself or Lena. 

“I just don’t understand why he’s so stubborn about this,” Lena finally says, once her sniffling has subsided, “I know he can be an ass sometimes, but Lex has never been anything but wonderful to me and it just… it  _ hurts _ .”

Kara presses a soft kiss to the top of her head and hugs her tightly and Lena makes a small keening noise in the back of her throat that Kara remembers she used to make as a child whenever she was being comforted. 

“We’ll get through it,” Kara promises, “together.”

Hours later, after the tears have subsided and Lena has calmed, they actually work on homework as intended, still curled up in one another. Lena is entirely too distracting, Kara realizes, and her girlfriend takes an almost sadistic pleasure in keeping Kara from her work. 

She’s trying to find the most sensitive spots on Kara’s body as Kara outlines an article that Snapper had assigned her, an irrelevant piece on something that she can’t even focus on because Lena’s fingers are trailing down her spine and Kara is  _ ticklish _ . 

Her fingers dip at a particularly sensitive part of Kara’s lower back and the action is entirely innocent but Kara’s entire body jolts and she can’t help but  _ react _ .

“ _ Fuck _ .” It escapes her mouth quietly, more of a whisper than a yell, but Lena’s hand stills against her and Kara frowns. 

“Lena?” she turns to look at her girlfriend, and her jaw is somewhat slack and her eyes have narrowed and before Kara can fully comprehend what’s happening she’s being straddled and Lena’s hands are pressing down on hers and the breath leaves her lungs with a soft  _ whoosh  _ as her back his the mattress. 

And then Lena is pressing hot, open-mouthed kisses on her neck and on her collarbones and  _ Rao  _ Lena’s tongue is setting Kara on fire and Kara’s mind is filled with nothing but  _ Lena Lena Lena Lena  _ until her girlfriend finally relents and pulls away with a long, deep kiss to Kara’s lips. 

It takes Kara a minute or two to remember how to breathe, let alone speak. 

“Not that I minded that,  _ at all _ ,” Kara clarifies, “but what was that for?”

“You cursed,” Lena says simply, pretending as though nothing out of the ordinary had happened at all, “I’ve never heard you curse before.”

“I curse just as much as anyone else!” Kara defends, and Lena laughs and raises an eyebrow. 

“Darling, you say  _ golly _ at least four times a day.  _ Golly _ .” Kara pouts and Lena kisses her until she smiles again. “Don’t worry, I find it endlessly endearing. You cursing is just…  _ very _ , very attractive.”

“I should curse more often, then.” 

“Only if you want to find yourself pressed against a wall and at my mercy,” Lena purrs, and Kara shivers but it has nothing to do with the cold. She glares when Lena pretends she doesn’t know how much she’s driving her crazy, but eagerly accepts cuddles when Lena offers them. 

The week passes quickly, in a blur of activity, and Kara again mourns the loss of break and the peace it had brought to her life. Though Alex teases her for missing Lena, she knows that she misses Maggie as well, and even friendships are faltering under the pressure of the second semester of the school year. 

James and Winn are near constant figures at her side, babbling about this and that or arguing about which new comic hero is the coolest―James argues staunchly in favor of a vigilante known as  _ The Guardian  _ while Winn preens about  _ The Flash _ ―while Kara stumbles her way through her classes, the scathing comments from Snapper only increasing as time passes, but the upperclassmen have told her that he only knows how to show affection through biting insults. 

There’s one moment when she’s in the library alone, tucked into herself and pouring over her math textbook, when Lex walks in and looks at her. Kara tenses, prepared for some form of confrontation, but his eyes merely narrow, calculating, and he continues walking. 

“Has he done anything idiotic recently?”

Kara startles at the intrusion, and stares up at Cat Grant, who leans over her chair as though it’s the most natural thing to do in the world. 

“I mean, it’s Lex, so really I’ve answered my own question, of course he has.” Cat takes it upon herself to keep Kara company and plops down on a chair opposite her that is usually occupied by either Lena or Alex, nose scrunching at the textbook in Kara’s hands. 

“Calculus? Ugh. I’m glad I got my math credits out of the way earlier, so I can ignore that pointless drivel and focus on more important things.” She wanted to build her own media empire, Kara knew. Well, the whole school knew. Cat Grant wasn’t one to let her dreams go unknown. 

And Kara supposed, if anyone could do it, it would be Cat Grant. 

“You’re in Carr’s class, correct?” she asks, finally addressing Kara directly, and at Kara’s nod, she makes an agreeing sort of noise. “You seemed like the journalist sort of type. Truth, justice, and all that. How’s it going?”

“It’s…” Kara trails off and pulls a face and Cat laughs. 

“I had the man a few years ago and am inclined to agree with you.” Cat shudders. “He’s the walking embodiment of white male privilege.” Kara laughs and Astra glares in their direction so the two fall silent for a moment, and Cat regards Kara closely, so closely that Kara can’t help but feel as though she’s being studied. 

“I’d wondered about you,” Cat says aloud. 

“Pardon?”

“Why Luthor likes you so much,” Cat clarifies, “Lena, that is, not Lex, obviously. The way she talks about you, gushes, really, it’s ridiculous―” Kara can’t help the grin that stretches across her face at the thought that Lena _gushes_ about _her_ and pointedly ignores Cat when she rolls her eyes “―because I always thought you were rather plain and boring, typical small town girl and all that.”

 Kara doesn’t take offence because from Cat Grant that’s practically praise, but continues to listen. 

“But you know, Kiera,” Cat pauses, and gives her a look, a hint of a smile tugging at her lips, “I think I understand.” She nods definitively and then stands, and as Kara watches her leave Lena enters, brows already furrowed in confusion. 

“Cat?”

“Lena.”

Never one to waste time, Cat marches off to do whatever it is she does―likely planning world domination, Kara thinks―leaving Lena to raise a questioning eyebrow at her girlfriend before she plops in her lap. 

“We were just chatting,” Kara shrugs, “I couldn’t explain it to you if I tried, to be completely honest.” Lena laughs and kisses Kara softly, and when she moves away Kara chases her lips and pulls her in for a second, deeper kiss. 

“Cat does seem to have that effect on people, yes.” Kara nods, and then motions for Lena to stand. She frowns and whines. 

“Kara,” there’s a pout on plump red lips that are entirely too kissable and it’s really unfair, “I just sat, and my feet are killing me.”

“You can sit in a moment,” Kara promises, “it’s getting late and we have a stargazing date, Hercules is in view tonight.”

“I’m not walking.”

“Fine.” Kara shrugs, and in a display of strength Lena clearly wasn’t expecting, sweeps the Luthor heiress off of her feet bridal style and Lena legitimately  _ squeaks _ , gripping onto Kara’s neck like a lifeline. 

“You’re strong,” Lena breathes out reverently as they’re making their way up to the astronomy tower and Kara hasn’t shown a sign of fatigue. 

“She says with surprise in her voice for some reason,” Kara mutters, and she blushes when she feels Lena’s hands grip at her abs. 

“We will be discussing this in depth later,” there’s a smoldering heat in Lena’s eyes as she makes the promise that makes Kara squirm, “when you aren’t liable to drop me if you get flustered.”

They make it up to their spot without further incident, where Kara has already gathered blankets and pillows and arranged for Alex to bring up food―even kale, for Lena, because her taste is questionable―and cuddle underneath the stars, and Kara points up and calls each one of them by name. 

Lena listens raptly, and when Kara finally gets to Hercules, she grins. 

“You seem to know a lot about the mythology behind him.”

“Of course I do,” Kara scoffs, “everyone went through a Greek kick as a kid. And besides, there’s a Disney movie after him.” She eyes Lena expectantly, and when Lena shrugs, Kara gawks. 

“You’ve never seen  _ Hercules?” _ her voice raises about an octave and birds in the forest surrounding the estate of their school fly up from their perches in the trees. 

“Mother and father were never focused on disney films, no, darling,” Lena confesses, and Kara freezes. 

She realizes, in that moment, that Lena hasn’t been allowed to have a normal childhood. 

Certainly, Kara’s childhood hadn’t been the most normal either, what with the death of her parents, but the Danvers had been loving and accommodating parents, and Alex had been thrilled to introduce a young Kara to all her favorite films and musicals and questionable taste in music. 

The Luthor family was very business oriented and focused on success, and pressure had been placed on both Lena and Lex from a very young age to be the very picture of perfection, and never falter under the public eye. That, of course, meant that they weren’t allowed to be free and act as children while they were still children. 

“Change in plans,” Kara decides, scooping up Lena once more, “we’re going back to your room and watching Hercules.”

“You’re quite bossy today, aren’t you,” Lena mutters, but she doesn’t complain when Kara offers her a radiant smile, stretching seemingly from ear to ear. 

They cuddle in Lena’s bed, and Kara sings along to all the songs and Lena can’t help but smile, and it feels like home. Lena scoffs about how things shouldn’t be physically possible and Kara rolls her eyes and tells her that, in the world of gods and goddesses, things don’t  _ have  _ to make sense. The two of them gush over Meg―even though Lena points out that she’s very disproportionate and that Disney is probably setting unrealistic body standards for girls―and giggle whenever Hades does anything. 

And when it comes to Kara’s favorite song, Lena’s enraptured, listening along to Meg’s melody but also the soft sound of her girlfriend’s voice, angelic and smooth and definitely not just singing along.   

“At least out loud…” Kara trails off, eyes fixated on Lena, a smile tugging on her lips. “I won’t say I’m in―” Lena won’t let her finish, because it isn’t something that needs to be said, because they  _ know _ , instinctively, and Lena cuts her off instead with a deep, promising kiss, pulling Kara infinitely closer to her, and all Kara can think of is a line later in the movie. 

_ People do crazy things when they’re in love.  _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments and kudos very much appreciated! Thanks for sticking w me! There will be some further conflict resolution w Lex, don't worry, but it probably won't be for a while bc, again, finals, school, carpal tunnel, crazy schedule. 
> 
> Have a lovely night/day/week! 
> 
> And good luck to everyone else in finals season! I'm taking my first round of IB exams so I'm right there with you.

**Author's Note:**

> Holla at me on tumblr, [danaryas](http://www.danaryas.tumblr.com)


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